Notice

Low Carbon Hydrogen Supply 2 competition - Stream 1 Phase 2: summaries of successful projects

Updated 29 June 2023

The aim of the Low Carbon Hydrogen Supply 2 competition is to identify, support and then develop credible innovative hydrogen supply or enabling technologies to bring about a step change in their development.

Stream 1 Phase 2 is closed to applications.

Under Stream 1 Phase 2, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero awarded around £19 million of funding across the following 5 projects to support physical demonstration of innovative hydrogen supply solutions.

RECYCLE: REthinking low Carbon hYdrogen production by Chemical Looping rEforming

Led by: University of Manchester
Contract Value: £5,110,204.52

The key objective of RECYCLE is demonstrating the enhanced autothermal ­reforming process for the cost -effective production of pure hydrogen. The process could be applied in refineries, chemical production and iron and steel industries with a minimum CO2 capture rate of 99% and reduced costs of production. The key innovation of the process is represented by the syngas generation plant based on dynamically operated chemical looping packed bed reactors that could provide heat for the reforming reaction while inherently producing pure carbon dioxide that is separated and not emitted in the atmosphere. The RECYCLE plant is a competitive solution for the production of low c­arbon hydrogen using both natural gas, biobased streams­ and waste feedstock to provide low c­ost hydrogen. Being a modular process, it can be applied at different scales, covering a wide range of industrial operators. This could enable blue and renewable hydrogen for small-scale emitters, delocalised industrial sites, and manufacturing processes given the expected low hydrogen cost compared to green hydrogen from electrolyser or direct electricity to­ ­heat. This 2 ­year project will demonstrate the RECYCLE integrated plant with a capacity of 20 kW of pure hydrogen (>99.9%), for 500 hours, with a carbon dioxide separation rate of 80 kg/day in a wide range of operating conditions industrially relevant and sensitive to generate a cost reduction for hydrogen by 10% compared to alternative options. The demonstration will be carried out at the University of Manchester in the Pilot Area in the James Chadwick Building of the recently established Sustainable Industrial Hub. Led by the University of Manchester the consortium includes Johnson Matthey, TotalEnergies, Helical Energy, Kent Energies plc and Element Energy. At the end of the project, RECYCLE should be ready to move to a precommercial scale aiming to generate up to 8TWh/y of hydrogen (approximately 4% of UK capacity) by providing­ process solutions for both energy intensive and manufacturing industries and support the UK strategic plan to reach NetZero by 2050.

ASPIRE (Ammonia Synthesis Plant from Intermittent Renewable Energy)

Led by: Science and Technology Facilities Council
Contract value: £4,283,445.42

In recent years ammonia has gained significant interest as a carbon free fuel and hydrogen carrier. It can be stored and transported at higher energy density and lower cost than hydrogen and has a proven distribution network. Ammonia can be cracked to supply hydrogen or used as a zero carbon fuel in combustion engines and fuel cells. Currently the majority of ammonia is made at large chemical plants which run 24 hours a day, 7 days a week fuelled by natural gas (known as grey ammonia). Production is primarily used for fertilisers and is responsible for 1.8% of global carbon emissions. Blue ammonia is the term for grey ammonia with a downstream carbon capture system to reduce the carbon emissions however carbon lifecycle assessment has shown that blue ammonia only leads to a halving of the carbon emissions. Green ammonia can be made entirely from renewable energy, water and air with minimal carbon footprint. The ASPIRE team is building a novel flexible green ammonia demonstration plant that can run autonomously and efficiently from an intermittent power source such as wind or solar. The market for green ammonia is predicted to expand rapidly due to the need to decarbonise current grey production but also due to new applications that support net zero. These include facilitating an economically viable supply chain of hydrogen and decarbonising sectors such as shipping and flexible power plants that currently run on fuel oil and natural gas or diesel. The flexibility of the ASPIRE technology could enable maximum utilisation of the available renewable energy resulting in the lowest possible cost of green ammonia. The ASPIRE team aim to demonstrate that the technology can be cost competitive with the incumbent grey and planned blue ammonia plants which are both dependent on volatile natural gas prices.

Tetronics Hydrogen Plasmolysis Demonstrator

Led by: Tetronics
Contract Value: £3,664,744.92

The aim of the Phase 2 project is to design, build and test a plasmolysis demonstration plant at a larger scale than that developed in the Low Carbon Hydrogen Supply Phase 1 project whilst integrating the plasmolysis system into wider process units to produce a usable hydrogen product. The Phase 2 demonstration plant will be designed to produce up to 7 kg/h of hydrogen with a 300 kWe power input making it a scale comparable to commercially available electrolysis plants. As well at achieving a level of scale up, the demonstration plant will be designed as an end ­to­ end system producing a hydrogen product suitable for direct use as an industrial gas. This will demonstrate the scalability of the Tetronics Hydrogen Plasmolysis (THP) technology, increase its Technology Readiness Level and thereby create confidence in the ability to produce large MW sized plants. The Phase 2 project will include the design, procurement, building and commissioning of a 300 kW THP plant. Once commissioned, operational trials will be undertaken to demonstrate the technology at scale and produce data to allow for the quantification of various metrics such as hydrogen production, energy use and efficiency. These large-scale trials will allow for the process to undergo further optimisation and refinement acting as a steppingstone to the development of a 1 MW reference plant. The successful development of Phase 2 should mark the advent of a scalable technology for producing green hydrogen at a higher yield than current alkaline and PEM electrolysis. In addition, the demonstration of the end­ to­ end plant will show that a THP facility will have a reduced CAPEX compared to other electrolysis technologies. The THP plant will be designed to have a longer life cycle of circa 20 years instead of the 7­-11 years average for PEM cells.

Monolithic MOFs for enhanced cryo-adsorbed hydrogen storage

Led by: Immaterial
Contract value: £3,358,428.52

Cryo­adsorbed technology has been considered one of the most promising concepts for tackling the intractable problem of low cost, high volume, ergonomic storage of hydrogen for many years. This type of storage uses benign conditions to store hydrogen in a condensed (adsorbed) phase using ultra­-porous materials that soak up gas like a sponge soaks up water. Unlike other materials-based solutions this is a physical, not a chemical condensation, and does not require significant energy to return the hydrogen to gas phase. Immaterial’s unique, patented technology – the monolith – densifies ultra­porous materials called metal­organic frameworks (MOFs) into pure crystals, enabling cryo-­adsorbed storage with global implications. Immaterial’s Generation 2 storage materials breaks the world record for adsorbed hydrogen storage, achieving 59 g/L at 100 bar and 77K (liquid nitrogen temperatures). Immaterial is applying this technology as a new type of fuel tank for transport applications including rail, HGV, bus, forklift, and small marine. In these applications, volume (range) is of critical importance as is total cost of ownership. Immaterial’s cryo­adsorbed technology enables more than double the volumetric performance of the current technology in use (350 bar) whilst using conformal (non­cylindrical) tanks, that are lower cost, and cost less to refuel. The group of thirty partners all have different perspectives – transport original equipment manufacturers or OEMs, fleet operators, tank design, hydrogen refuelling infrastructure, energy companies, safety, and specialist technologists from global materials science. This project will demonstrate the technology in the real world through integration with a double decker bus, and the demonstration will be overseen by representatives from other transport sectors. The project builds the skills base in the UK and should contribute significantly to the UK’s hydrogen and high value manufacturing economies.

Dragonfly Valve: Zero-Emission Flow Control for the Hydrogen Supply Chain

Led by: Actuation Lab
Contract value: £2,992,596.93

Fugitive emissions from gas valves present a significant environmental problem which must be addressed to progress towards a zero­-carbon economy. Preventable hydrogen supply valve leakage in 2050 is predicted to be ~25–33 Mt of CO2e/year. Current natural gas valve leakage totals between 71–93 Mt of CO2e/year. Actuation Lab is developing novel, zero­emission valves to address this challenge, based on their proprietary ‘Dragonfly’ mechanism. This design removes the traditional mechanical valve stem, the main source of valve fugitive emissions, replacing it with non­contact, maintenance-­free transmission that acts through the solid valve wall. By removing the need for a seal between body and moving valve stem, the Dragonfly Valve can be completely sealed to atmosphere using proven static seals (non­wear O-­ring or gasket) or welds. This demonstration project aims to develop Actuation Lab’s leak free Dragonfly valve to TRL 7, allowing for commercial deployment of a leak free valve solution that will be required for the realisation of a hydrogen economy. The project is set to span 23 months and is broken down into 6 work packages: Project Management and reporting, Business Development/Knowledge Dissemination, Engineering Design Verification, Manufacture and Assembly, Test Certification and Qualification, and Demonstration. Actuation Lab will work with their partner, University of South Wales who will be demonstrating the valve over the course of 6­ months following the completion of physical testing. If successful in completing this project and rolling out the technology broadly, realistic direct emission savings of 46.5 MtCO2e/year could be achieved by 2050, 465,000 tCO2e/year in the UK. Indirect emission savings come from enabling scaling of hydrogen production infrastructure where maintenance/safety risks prevent projects from scaling. Enabling widespread green hydrogen production globally could allow 2,002 MtCO2e emissions savings, of which 40 MtCO2e in the UK.